Monday, April 13, 2009
Photograph by John Kelly
The “Red Alert of the Week” brings us back to the United States and the issue of horse slaughter. Many viewers might not know that although the United States terminated all 3 of its horse processing plants by 2007, there is still a thriving business of exporting horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter for human consumption designated for countries like Italy, France, and Japan. Often the transportation to Mexico and Canada alone puts the horses in serious danger as they are usually loaded into double decker trucks used for cattle and other short necked livestock. This can mean severed and mamed limbs, eyes, and worse-even death.
Sadly, these horses were usually not purposed to end up on somebody’s dinner plate. They are lead to auction in order to place them in good homes. However, “killer buyers”-people hired to buy for the foreign horse slaughter plants- abound at these auctions and often outbid any of the other buyers, including those of equine rescue organizations.
Currently, there is legislation trying to make its way through Congress called the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009 that would prevent the inception of any new horse slaughter plants in the United States as well as prohibit the the export of American horses for slaughter for human consumption.
Even though there is a tenacious campaign opposing horse slaughter, the Montana legislature passed a bill, H.B. 418, that would make investor-owned horse slaughter plants legal and actually sheild these slaughter houses from judicial challenges. You can contact Governor Schweitzer of Montana and let him know how you feel about this issue and urge him to veto this bill by clicking here. You can help by contacting government officials and lending your voice to this matter.
